IDW COMICS: Ghostbusters I
IDW COMICS IN THE MEDIA GHOSTBUSTERS IN THE MEDIA Ghostbusters is a 1984 American supernatural comedy film directed by Ivan Reitman and written by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis. The film stars Bill Murray, Aykroyd, and Ramis as three eccentric parapsychologists in New York City who start a ghost catching business. Sigourney Weaver and Rick Moranis co-star as a potential client and her neighbor. The Ghostbusters business booms after some initial skepticism, but when an uptown high-rise apartment building becomes the focal point of spirit activity linked to the ancient god Gozer, the problem threatens to overwhelm the team and the entire world. Originally intended by Aykroyd as a project for himself and fellow Saturday Night Live alumnus John Belushi, the film had a very different story during initial drafts. Aykroyd's vision of "Ghostmashers" traveling through time, space, and other dimensions to fight large ghosts was deemed financially impractical by Reitman. Based on the director's suggestions, Aykroyd and Ramis finalized the screenplay from May–June 1982. They had written roles specifically for Belushi, John Candy, and Eddie Murphy, but were forced to change the script after Belushi died and the latter two actors would not commit to the film. YOUTUBE MOVIE: PLOT: After being called to the New York Public Library after a series of apparent paranormal activity, misfit parapsychologists Peter Venkman (Bill Murray), Raymond Stantz (Dan Aykroyd), and Egon Spengler (Harold Ramis) arrive, skeptical yet interested, only to come across the ghost of a dead librarian. Unarmed and unprepared for the encounter, they run at her in an attempt to "catch" her but are frightened away when she transforms into a horrifying monster. After losing their jobs at Columbia University and unable to research their life-changing discovery, the trio establish a paranormal extermination/investigations service known as "Ghostbusters" when realizing that, quite possibly, more harmful and/or trouble-making entities exist in the city. After many weeks of further studying of ghosts and developing high-tech equipment capable of capturing the undead, as well as setting up base in a former firehouse, they officially open for business. With no customers and dwindling funds, they are eventually hired by the Sedgewick Hotel manager to investigate a haunting. At the hotel, they capture their first ghost and deposit it in a "containment unit" in the firehouse basement. Paranormal activity begins to increase in New York City, and the Ghostbusters become celebrities containing it, but are increasingly burdened by their hectic schedule. The group hire a fourth member, Winston Zeddemore (Ernie Hudson), to help them cope with the demand. The Ghostbusters are retained by Dana Barrett (Sigourney Weaver), whose apartment is haunted by a demonic spirit, Zuul, a demigod worshipped as a servant to Gozer the Gozerian, a Sumerian shape-shifting god of destruction. Venkman takes a particular interest in the case, competing with Dana's neighbor, Louis Tully (Rick Moranis), for her affection. As the Ghostbusters investigate, Dana is possessed by Zuul, which declares itself the "Gatekeeper", and Louis by a similar demon called Vinz Clortho, the "Keymaster". Both demons speak of the coming of the destructive Gozer, and the Ghostbusters plan to keep the two apart. Thereafter, the Ghostbusters' office is visited by Walter Peck (William Atherton), a lawyer representing the EPA, who has the team arrested for operating an unlicensed nuclear device and orders their ghost containment grid deactivated, unleashing hundreds of captured ghosts onto the city. Freed from the Ghostbusters' custody, Louis/Vinz advances toward Dana/Zuul's apartment while the escaped ghosts wreak havoc throughout the city. Consulting blueprints of Dana's apartment, the Ghostbusters learn that mad doctor and cult leader Ivo Shandor, claiming humanity was too sick to survive after the horrors of World War I, designed the building as a gateway to summon Gozer and bring about the end of the world. The Ghostbusters are released from custody to combat the paranormal activity, but are unable to prevent the arrival of Gozer, who initially appears as a woman (Slavitza Jovan). Briefly subdued by the team, Gozer disappears, but her voice echoes that the "destructor" will follow, taking a form chosen by the team. Venkman, realizing that whatever they think of will appear as a destroying force, urges his comrades to avoid giving form to the destructor by clearing their minds. Unable to keep his mind blank, Stantz remembers a beloved corporate mascot from his childhood, "something that could never, ever possibly destroy us," whereupon the destructor arrives in the form of Stantz's giant Stay Puft Marshmallow Man, which begins storming the city. To defeat it, the team combine the energy streams of their proton packs (which Egon advised against earlier) and fire them against Gozer's portal to our world. Crossing the beams results in a single explosion that banishes Gozer back from whence it came, seals the gateway between the worlds, and destroys the Marshmallow Man. Soon thereafter, Dana and Louis are freed from the remains of their possessors. As hundreds of New Yorkers wipe marshmallow goo from their faces, the Ghostbusters are applauded by the city's population. CAST: Category:IDW Comics Category:Comic Books in the Media Category:Ghostbusters Category:The Real Ghostbusters Category:Extreme Ghostbusters